A variety of surgical procedures are performed through a very small surgical incision in a particular tissue. Reducing the size of a surgical incision during a surgical procedure generally reduces the amount of trauma to the surgical site and generally facilitates faster wound healing. In order to perform surgical procedures through a very small surgical incision, a surgeon may require specialized surgical instruments configured to fit through the very small surgical incision and provide the surgeon with a surgical utility. For example, a surgeon may perform a particular surgical procedure by inserting a first specialized surgical instrument having a first surgical utility into a very small surgical incision, and then performing a first portion of the particular surgical procedure. After performing the first portion of the particular surgical procedure, the surgeon may be required to withdraw the first specialized surgical instrument from the very small surgical incision and insert a second specialized surgical instrument having a second surgical utility into the very small surgical incision, e.g., in order to perform a second portion of the particular surgical procedure.
It is generally desirable to reduce the number of specialized surgical instruments required to perform a particular surgical procedure through a very small surgical incision. For example, every time a new surgical instrument is inserted into the very small surgical incision, there is a risk of additional trauma to the surgical site. Accordingly, there is a need for a surgical instrument configured to provide a plurality of utilities through a very small surgical incision.